It seems that my fondness for wow-this-is-way-too-long post titles is utterly related to the fascination I had, as a child, for French longest word – anticonstitutionnellement.
I was indeed obsessed with dictionaries; which I would read like any other book. This had multiple effects on my grown-up life: I am now very good in orthographe and synonymes. However, there are side effects; the always-too-long-to-be-true titles being one of them. But well, that’s another story – I don’t want you to think of me as a bookworm (I love this word, though).

Other things have partially contributed to what I am now. Food, just as music, books or movies, is simply part of it.
I can sing every single song from the Wizard of Oz or make a ratatouille from scratch. This is me, the real me.
Further than just being able to sing or cook, this precise song-recipe has made me. I mean, I am Dorothy, I love simple food that highlights high-quality ingredients, and I rave about “children’s” movies.

Luckily, I have a little sister, which gives me the perfect excuse to fully enjoy childhood treasured secrets – la balançoire, les dessins animés, les goûters…
As you can imagine, I am the best big sister ever: I take Aïda (hasn’t she a lovely name?) everywhere she wants me to and we have more fun than it’s possible to have.

A couple of weeks ago, just a few days after the movie Rataouille had been released, we went to the theatre. I cried, she cried; I laughed, she laughed; I squeaked, she squeaked.Regarde leur petits nez trop sweet! [Look at their sweet little noses!] – Oh well, yes, we’re part of those people who talk during movies. You know, the annoying ones.

When the movie was finished, she just told me one thing thing: ‘oh mais Fanny, c’est toi Rémi’ [but, Fanny, you are Rémi]. I couldn’t be happier – I was a rat with a small but sweet nose, who loves cooking. Minus the rat part, the description fitted.
I’m not good a critic, but I urge you to see this movie if you haven’t already – the story is beautiful and will make you feel super-good. You might experience the need to make ratatouille, whish I also encourage you to.

Where I live, ratatouille is considered staple food – every single person knows how to produce a succulent one. This is no coincidence: ratatouille comes from Nice, where every family has its own recipe: whether it’s a torn piece of paper, a beautifully handwritten notebook or just memories, la ratatouïa nissarda is definitely a precise combination of the best vegetables available.
According to Jacques Médecin, ratatouille is a time-consuming and difficult dish to prepare. It requires knowledge and precision. Yet, I love to make it, usually in big batches as it keeps very well for a week (it is actually even better the day after it is made).
I always make it following the traditional version – the one my mum taught me. However, when I noticed Rémi’s way of making ratatouille, I fell in love – not only it looked extra-pretty but it seemed to be delicious.

I guess I wasn’t the only one to rush to the farmer’s market, – with ratatouille my mind -, after having seen the movie.

Ratatouille au four
Inspired by Thomas Keller’s Confit Byaldi

It can appear wrong to call this dish a ratatouille: a tian, a gratin or a confit would be more appropriate; but I deliberately did so.
Although it is not made the way traditional ratatouille is, it has the exact taste and texture of correctly made ratatouïa nissarda.

I got my inspiration from the movie, which is obvious, but also from Thomas Keller, who allegedly created the dish for the movie.
I did keep the basic element of the recipe: a layer of fragrant tomato sauce (wasn’t that excited with the piperade option suggested by Thomas) and a layer of finely sliced summer vegetables.

The tomato sauce I came up with was utterly delicious and is now my favourite tomato-sauce recipe, the one I’ll be using from now on. I used Coeur de Boeuf tomatoes for their sweetness and their great flesh/seed ratio (as I’m not the type of person who removes every single pip although I know that seeds make the sauce bitter, I always go for the tomatoes that contain the less seeds).

For the vegetables layer, I chose to use tomatoes, onions, aubergines, red peppers and courgettes (both green and yellow, for appeal and taste). I finely sliced them with my favourite sharp knife and got satisfying results. It is certain that a mandolin would have yield to more consistent slices, but I was and am happy with a rougher thus less standardised look.

You can arrange the slices as you want. I found this step to be relaxing and funny: ‘courgette-poivron-aubergine-jaune-tomate-oignon’, I would say aloud. I did have some leftover vegetable slices, which I threw into a baking dish, drizzled with olive oil, covered with baking parchment and foil, and baked along with the ‘pretty’ ratatouille. It made delicious roast/confit vegetables.

The very low oven temperature and long baking, give beautifully confit vegetables that still retain their shape and taste. I must say that this recipe is now an absolute favourite. Actually, it might even replace my usual method for ratatouille.

Start by making the sauce: combine the oil, garlic and onion into a large heavy-bottomed pan over low heat until very soft, about ten minutes. Add the tomatoes, thyme, parsley and bay leaf and bring to the boil over medium heat. Mix in the sugar, reduce the heat and simmer until very soft and very little liquid remains, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt, and discard herbs. Spread the sauce in the bottom of a 26cm skillet (or like I did, three small 16cm skillets).

Pre-heat the oven to 140°C.
Arrange the vegetable slices over the sauce until the pan is filled. Drizzle with the oil, sprinkle with the garlic and thyme, and season. Cut a round of baking paper to fit the tin and then cover with foil and crimp the edges to seal well.
Bake for 2 hours. Uncover and bake for a further 30 minutes.
You can eat it hot, warm or cold.

Oh Fanny, that is the most beautiful ratatouille I’ve ever seen. You’ve made me curious, though – what is your normal recipe? There are so many bizarre recipes for ratatouille floating around out there – I would really love to know more about your (or your mom’s) traditional method.

p.s. Can you believe in the UK we have to wait until October until the movie is released? :(

fanny said something sweet:
Friday 17 August 2007

Eugénie – you lucky you! I’ve seen your pictures of Murano and Venezia and it makes me want to go there again.

In a large heavy pan set over low heat, splash some olive oil and add the garlic and thyme. Crush the tomatoes between your fingers and mix them in. Cook for 30 minutes or more, until thick – season with salt and sugar if necessary.
Meanwhile, put 1-2 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan and cook the aubergine slices until cooked. In another pan, cook the courgettes and onions. In a third pan, cook the peppers.
This method of cooking the vegetables separately yields to delicious results only if you taste and season (with olive oil, salt and pepper) regularly to check the doneness of the veggies.
As soon as they’re cooked, throw them into the tomato sauce and gently simmer for 15-20 minutes to bind the flavours.
You can eat it hot, warm or cold and it will keep well for at least 4 days (and is absolutely delicious reheated).

ps. be generous on the olive oil as you can always discard some before serving (the excess olive oil will float).

Thank God u dint use a mandoline. Love the rustic look. I have seen ratatouille in stew form. How do you serve yrs?
I WANT to try this. Will let you know how it turned out…

fanny said something sweet:
Saturday 18 August 2007

Mandy – yeah, you should definitely give it a go because it’s absolutely delcious.
ps. thanks for the sweet word!

Jaclyn – in my family, ratatouille is usually served with rice and grilled meat; but as a vegetarian, I prefer to have it plain (soooo good) or with some kind of grains.
The fine omelette sounds good – definitely nnot traditionnal in france, but I’m sure it’s really good.
Actually, we took the ratatouille leftovers with us for the holidays and had them in an “omelette” with rice. It was yummy.

Aimee – I’m sure you’ll love it.

Suganya – as said above, I served it cold as an entrée with some good homemade crusty bread. It was very tasty.
Can’t wait to see how yours turn out!

oh my goodness, i made this last night (in one big casserole and 2 small souffle ramekins–perfect size for taking to work for lunch!) and it was HEAVENLY. i thought it would take a couple tries to get the dish right, but your recipe was foolproof.

thank you, fanny! i just found your site yesterday, but i will be a regular reader for sure. :)

I saw this post before i watched the movie Ratatouille. By the end of the film i was craving to try this dish! I have never eaten it before. I soon remembered that you had a recipe on your blog which looked so similar to the one in the cartoon. So i made it last night. And i felt like Anton Ego when he took his first bite.

Beautiful! I made this with my three year-old daughter (we both love the movie) and she was a huge help, snacking on the leftover slices of courgette… But a very easy, very delicious recipe. This will definitely become a family favorite!

We just watched to movie last night and searching the web for people who actually did it as in the movie I came across your beautiful blog. Your ratatouille looks great. We are going to try it soon.

fanny said something sweet:
Tuesday 6 November 2007

Hi there,
thanks for all your lovely comments. You clearly rock ;)

Kiki and Harald – I’m glad you liked it as much as we did.

Love xxx
- fanny

Laura said something sweet:
Saturday 10 November 2007

Assembled it this evening and it looks very pretty. All ready to go in the oven tomorrow. I was going to cook it tonight for tomorrow’s supper, but I am too tired to stay up while it bakes. Hope it tastes half as good as it looks! Don’t see how it can miss with all that yummy stuff. I’m thinking shaved parmigiano reggiano on top to serve. Thanks!

We just finally watched Ratatouille the other night and it was lots of fun, and of course I want to make the dish sometime. And why am I not surprised that Fanny has made it beautifully! Yum!

Didn’t you find the movie terrific?

Crystal said something sweet:
Monday 17 March 2008

AHH!
that looks delicious!
I am definately cooking that soon
thank-you soo soo much for posting it!
I just finished watching the movie Ratatouille and I really wanted to eat some
now i can make some of my own!

Lorena said something sweet:
Friday 21 March 2008

I just arrived form my trip to Paris, and it was Fabiolous!!!! I even got to taste ratatouille… mmmm it was so delicious. Wow!!

thanks for that Fanny! after seeing the movie it inspired me to make ratatouille. but knowing that i didn’t have the recipe i thought that you might have it.
your recipe for ratatouille is the best i have ever seen. i have been on other sites looking for different variants for it, but yours is the best. i love it!! thank you very much!!
xxx Kyle!!

Lanin said something sweet:
Tuesday 22 April 2008

nicee.. and thx… i will try this way,

coz.. i always made ratatouille with saute method..

ur ratatouille is the best, coz they are same with in the movie that i saw..

[...] from ratatouille so after reading about smittenkitchen’s and foodbeam’s wonderful ratatouilles, i decided to make one as well. the vegetables i used for the layering were [...]

Keanu Miller said something sweet:
Thursday 8 May 2008

C’est delicieux! (i hope that’s right)
I love this Recipe!
I also saw the Movie and i fall in love with it 2!
Thank you for the recipe…
I’m just 13 years old, but i make this
Recipe very often for my family, now i discoverded it.

So glad I found this! I just made some last night, using the Julia Child recipe. Had an abundance of zucchini and tomatoes from my garden, plus eggplant (aubergine)and, of course, onions. Love the fresh bright colors and flavors. Now I have 2 more versions to try–can hardly wait.

[...] gets here and sees how much there still is left to do. But I can’t help it — I saw this foodbeam post and was just dying to try this Ratatouille au Four! (Talk about bad timing, though. This is an [...]

Monique said something sweet:
Sunday 28 March 2010

hello !!!
I was surfing on the internet, and found your blog. That´s really cool. Congrats. And by the way I couldn´t resist your ratatouille, it´s excellent !!! Just had it for dinner one hour ago. Thanks a lot. Be blessed!

Sheila said something sweet:
Wednesday 3 November 2010

Made it. LOVED it.
I adapted it a little – I was trying to use up some extra veg I had, and also didn’t have peppers. But the tomato sauce is incredible and the ‘slow & low’ cooking makes the veg sooooo soft and sweet. Thanks!

[...] I was smitten by what Google Images showed me. When I clicked on the gorgeous pic, I discovered a new blog… about food! With a little life and photography thrown in for good measure. Perfect for me, [...]

[...] of ratatouille that people were “familiar” with; both Deb from Smitten Kitchen and Fanny from Foodbeam have made beautiful oven-baked ratatouilles that look just like the movie, and here in Calgary I [...]

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Hi, I'm Fanny, the girl who writes foodbeam live from the French Riviera London.

I was born in 1985 and seem to love pâtisserie, acorns, milk chocolate, autumn, green tea, London, polaroids, and everything in between.

For years, I dreamt about becoming a pastry chef, and it's now actually happening; so grab yourself a cup of hot chocolate, and follow me through my adventures, from Pierre Hermé to Pascal Lac to the Capital Hotel, from Paris to Nice to London.